House Dem vets press McConnell on emergency declaration

A group of Democratic House military veterans on Tuesday called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to support a resolution overturning President Trump’s emergency declaration on the southern border.

In a letter to McConnell, Democratic Reps. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Anthony Brown (Md.), Salud Carbajal (Calif.), Gil Cisneros (Calif.), Ted Lieu (Calif.), Max Rose (N.Y.) and Bobby Rush (Ill.) sharply criticized Trump over reports that the administration plans to use up to $1 billion from Department of Defense military pay and pension accounts to build a border wall.

{mosads}”We may have political differences, but we hope you will join us to pass H.J.Res. 46 to terminate the President’s national emergency in order to defend the U.S. Constitution and uphold our solemn duty to support our brave men and women in uniform,” the lawmakers wrote.

The resolution to overturn Trump’s emergency declaration on the border passed the House last month, picking up 13 GOP votes to go along with unanimous Democratic support. 

Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) missed the vote because of the death of his father but said he also supported the resolution.

Four Republican senators have already said they will vote for the resolution later this week, on the grounds that the president’s declaration sets a precedent that weakens the legislative branch in favor of the executive.

But the White House, eager to get Republicans to stick with the president, on Tuesday dispatched Vice President Pence to the Senate. 

Pence was apparently successful in swaying Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.) — who had earlier said he’d vote for the resolution — to reconsider his position.

The emergency declaration would allow the president to move funds from other agencies to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to build a border wall, a prospect that’s made Republican senators wonder whether the emergency powers passed in the 70s are “too broad,” according to McConnell.

But McConnell has said current legislation allows for emergency declarations like Trump’s.

The letter’s authors took a different view, asking McConnell to “urge the Senate to reject the President’s clearly unlawful actions and protect the integrity of our institution.”

They also urged McConnell to “safeguard our constitutional obligations and support the health, welfare, and earned benefits of American heroes who put their lives on the line to defend our country.”

Gallego and Carbajal are Marine veterans; Rush, Brown and Rose are Army veterans; Cisneros is a Navy veteran; and Lieu served in the Air Force.

Brown and Lieu are reserve colonels in their respective services, and Rose serves in the National Guard.

—Updated at 3:06 p.m.

Letter to McConnell on Scribd